| abstract | - The former president of the Brentwood borough council was sentenced to house arrest for using a borough credit card for personal purchases and lying on state disclosure forms. Mary Dytko, 48, will spend 60 days under house arrest and three years on probation, Senior Common Pleas Judge John K. Reilly decided. Assistant District Attorney Lawrence Claus argued for jail time for Ms. Dytko, who also pleaded guilty to credit card fraud in 1997. Ms. Dytko used the borough's Sam's Club card to purchase groceries and personal items for herself, and her payments to the borough were sporadic, when they came at all. When she ran for council, Ms. Dytko did not disclose her prior felony conviction, and she also lied on state forms about obtaining a bachelor's degree at the University of Pittsburgh and having a $10,000 debt. Five family members, friends and colleagues of Ms. Dytko testified on her behalf at this morning's sentencing hearing, some calling the charges politically motivated. Ms. Dytko, in an interview after the sentencing, thanked Judge Reilly for not sending her to jail and "being intelligent enough to see what's really going on right now." Ms. Dytko said she was trying to root out wrongdoing in the borough before the charges came down, and said she plans to expose corrupt public officials there. "The tables will turn," she said. "The ballgame is not over."
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